#AS SOMEONE WHO LOVES NUANCE AND HARD QUESTIONS WITH NO DEFINITE ANSWER

[thosefiveadoraburrs]

anyway s4 gave me everything bye

[fractualized]

Today in "I know we bust on comics a lot around here but there are still plenty of comics worth your time," I think Robin Lives is off to a promising start!

Also, I have to say, I found myself comparing it to Three Jokers. For one thing, it seems like much more of an examination of trauma than Three Jokers was purported to be. For another, while Three Jokers had me doubting that Geoff Johns really read The Killing Joke, Robin Lives feels like JM DeMatteis gives a crap about what actually happened in "Death in the Family."

But my petty grudges aside, here's what I liked about Robin Lives #1, with lots of spoilers. (And images of child murder and such, obviously.)

Unless there are shenanigans later, Joker definitely dies on the very first page.

Falls at Bruce's feet. Aw. :(

So this presents to us an instant mystery! Was Bruce responsible? Or was it Jason? Someone else entirely? Looks like the answer will be in three more issues. For now, we flash back to the aftermath of Jason's near-death.

DeMatteis deals with Joker's infamous ambassadorship by simply… taking it away. Which is pretty funny to me.

"Honestly, we were coming off a pretty wild party when we made that decision. Who knows what we were thinking? Hahaha, no hard feelings, right— What's that gas??"

I should note the narration in the purple box, which starts before this scene. Halfway through the issue, we learn that this story is being narrated by Dr. Saraswati Dev (aka Sara), a trauma doctor that Bruce hires for Jason. As we read what happens in this deviation from canon, she examines how we should view people who do such terrible things when their own lives and actions are affected by mental illness, their own trauma, and so on. It's an admittedly blunt story-telling tactic, spelling out the nuance for the reader, but I don't mind it, and it tells us that this version of Jason's story won't end cleanly.

Sara also clearly knows much more about Batman and his sidekicks than the average civilian, which raises the question of how she gets so involved in their lives. I'm hoping it's not because she becomes a love interest… but then again if that's presented as one of Bruce's screwed up mistakes, that has potential!

Anyway, as reviewed in a previous post, Joker was uneasy about killing Jason from the start, and that doesn't change in this version. When Bruce rescues the Iranian representatives, Joker tries to downplay what he did.

Hee hee, "Batsy-boo."

Joker can't escape for long, though.

And I have to pause here to note that this scene is reminiscent of the climax in the "Going Sane" storyline, which DeMatteis also wrote.

[Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #68]

There are differences in the scenarios, of course, but the other thing about "Going Sane" is that Joker/Joseph repeatedly refers to the urge to return to his former self as drowning.

[Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #66]

So in Robin Lives, it adds an extra kick when Bruce overturns Joker's boat and then stands by as Joker drowns.

Oh god that feeling when your secret fears come to fruition

But don't worry!

This is all an interesting variation "Death in the Family." Then, in his grief, Bruce was constantly fluctuating on if he was going to kill Joker, and his eventual attempt was trapping Joker in a crashing helicopter. In Robin Lives, he seems ambivalent too, again engineering the circumstances for Joker to die but not being an entirely active participant, and also not angry at Clark for rescuing him. (Speaking of which, Clark sure as heck didn't rescue Joker from the original helicopter incident. I guess he's ambivalent in his own way!)

So Joker is returned to Arkham Asylum, where Bruce talks to the current director, Dr. Benjamin Stoner (who evidently really was the director at the time but also a literal agent of chaos??? OK I guess I'll keep that in mind). Stoner pushes back on Bruce's assessment of the Joker.

At the time, Bruce vanishes, but as we see in the narration when Bruce faildads hard with a recovering Jason, he later seems to reflect on Stoner's words along with Jason's.

Jason appears at the start of the issue in the hospital, but we finally get into it with him in the second half. He keeps withdrawing from Bruce and Alfred, so Dick appears to provide some emotional support.

The page already notes that, no, this chat is not going to be enough to get Jason back to baseline. But it's also darkly hilarious that Dick thought it would be, especially keeping in mind that the implication is that this is the only time Dick comes over, and it's after Jason has been listless for some time. It's almost like this whole family is bad at feelings.

But Bruce does finally hire a professional, our narrator.

Of course, Jason overhears their discussion and thinks Bruce is planning to send him away.

Ouch.

Jason decides to prove that he's totally fine, actually, by saving a gala from Scarecrow by himself. Did you guess that he gets hit with fear toxin? Because yeah, they always get hit with fear toxin!

Oh my god he just wanted his mom to save him 😭

OH GOD FOR A SECOND I FORGOT IT WAS FEAR TOXIN

I should take a second to jump back and note that Jason imagining Joker getting one right between the eyes, just like we saw at the start, feels like a solid indication that in the end, he will definitely be Joker's killer... but, well, you really don't know until it happens.

So Jason is out of commission, but before Scarecrow can kidnap him for interrogation, Batman finally shows up. Bruce beats the everloving crap out of Crane, obviously still consumed with anger about what happened in Ethiopia. The freaking cops have to ask him to stop.

And then the final page is just more of the saddest of sadtimes.

I do love that first narrative detail in the top panel. Bruce is feeling angry and guilty but also humiliated and ashamed. He knows Jason is a vulnerable kid who needs help, but as always, Jason also represents Bruce's personal failures. He couldn't get Jason to do exactly as he was told. He couldn't protect Jason from harm. He couldn't maintain the image of Batman as invulnerable, not with this terrified boy shaking on the ground. Bruce does not have control.

It's very human, and it's a key ingredient in whatever disaster is to come. Even if we didn't have Sara's final questions in the last two panels, we can already tell that Bruce is going to continue to make not-great choices.

I've already ordered #2, and I'm looking forward to reading what DeMatteis has in store in the next three issues. Barbara has to make an appearance, right? And she'd be a great candidate for the shooter...

[prettyboykatsuki]

This is a weird thought piece question so if you don’t wanna answer it’s okay. But genuinely as a character I think Katsuki is very aware of people he cares about. Almost in an Izuku type of obsessive way, maybe less intense and prone to writing it down, lol. But as I trust your perspective on him a lot I wanted to ask, do you think he’s the type of person as a friend or significant other or potential person, to be aware of insecurities?

Or to care genuinely? For example if you were insecure about your size. Do you think he would be aware of that and be silent? Or would he love the insecurity in spite of your feelings? Or does he not really think twice because he cares about you and doesn’t know you would even feel that way. It’s a weird dilemma I ran into wanting to write a piece for him and I realized I couldn’t figure it out. Hopefully I am explaining myself properly?

Thank you 😭

i understand what u mean lol dw and i think if u read some of my pieces my stance on this aspect of him is hard to grasp bc i dont often write more insecure readers. mostly bc i think its a little bit harder to write well as it requires more nuances but thats a diff can of worms jdhfkj

i think its important to understand less so what bakugou does and does not care about and moreso the way he process information - which is largely intuitive.

like i do understand what you are asking and because bakugou is bakugou - yes, i think he is probably aware of these things. he picks up on them often and usually uses them in some context when throwing insults or even in more light hearted interactions.

but a lot of bakugous informational processing is based on a pragmatic, systemic and reason based way of thinking. and a lot of what impedes that way of acting is his own emotional state. in the beginning of the series, he's a lot more insecure in himself and he projects that onto other people. it causes him to act in very irrational and ridiculous ways

however by the end of the series, katsuki s a fully processed and emotionally realized man. so he defaults to a more elevated, calm and secure version of himself that relies on what he's best at which is using his intuition to draw conclusions and implementing a reason based plan. before he was doing that just with logic.

but he has the emotional tuning to also do this in his relationships and he's taken a lot of time to learn to navigate them.

so i think in a partnership, it's unlikely that he does not know at all. i think he probably picks up on the insecurity in smaller ways but does not put a real name to it (i.e. i dont think he thinks of it consciously / actively) until something comes up which forces him too do it

and that something would be if its putting his partner in any kind of serious emotional distress or comes up frequently as a reason for their upset.

katsuki has this line he says very famously says to shouto "there's no way you could've noticed something that i didnt but lets hear it anyway." and he's being passive aggressive af lol but there is some merit to that.

he's a very keen person naturally and he spends a significant amount of time with you - so he definitely knows to an extent. maybe no actively, maybe not consciously - but just an intuitive understanding.

however, because he loves you - he will only intervene when he thinks its necessary to do so. and this isn't because he doesn't care about you, but because he specifically had to handle his own insecurity and he knows firsthand what you're experiencing in himself.

but katsuki loves you and also has a lot of faith in you. he will push if he thinks you need to be pushed, and he will assure if he thinks you need to be assured. he's a good partner in that way. but for the most part, he won't interfere because he trusts in you as a person to overcome things. insecurity is not something that can be mended by another person if it's within yourself, but it can be healed when it's reframed to you by someone who loves you.

and if you need that from katsuki he will undoutedly give it to you. but he trusts you to handle business basically. so not in a bad way, he treats your insecurities as simply being apartof you.

he doesn't have any feelings about the insecurity itself. he's not lying when he says that. but thats because he loves you more as an amalgalm of all the parts of you. his view of you is rounded out and he sees all of it as you. if he loves you, he loves you. there's nothing that needs to be changed as longs as its you. so he has no opinion on if you like or dislike something. you are you no matter who you are or what you look like.

bakugou is very explicitly not shallow. appearances in love are generally unimportant to him. he falls in love with people not looks even when people don't believe that because he's so pretty lmao

[mantequillamcwhoremick]

Is there a both option? I mean the question is how far would Cartman go and risk alienating Kenny and I think the answer is quite a lot and the track record really shows that he can get away with basically anything and not get disavowed from the friend group 🤔 so there isn’t really a disincentive to not try to break them up, especially if he thinks they will eventually get over it and return to status quo.

Though on the other hand I do think it could go the route where depending on what lengths he goes to…while it might not permanently sour any relationship Cartman has with the two boy separately, but I couldn’t say the same with complete confidence for the Kenny and Butters connection. I think if any dysfunction starts interfering with Cartman’s schemes, he might get fed up and try to fix it somewhat 🤔 Although somewhat as a side note though he already spews vitriolic hate speech and slurs, I would have a hard time believing he wouldn’t find some way to take advantage of the Bunny relationship and be more embolden to start saying even darker more heinous stuff because he believes he would receive less push back as *insert sound bite “How can I be homophobic my b*tch is gay🎶” *

(In reference to this poll)

True, Cartman would definitely take advantage of his friends being in a gay relationship to get out of any accusations of homophobia just to spew even more homophobic crap, but while Kenny is arguably closest to him out of the main 4, I kinda feel like he doesn't need KENNY to be the friend he takes advantage of bc of this. He would just as much say this about Stan and Kyle (even if they aren't even together lmao) and he is pretty much canonically 1000% on board with THEM being in a gay relationship (see "Cupid Me" and "Guitar Queero").

Some people reblogged the poll with some interesting takes, and I gotta say what convinced me the most is the fact that Cartman just kinda has it out for Butters at all times lmao. I'm convinced he would think that Kenny can do better, and especially if Kenny started calling Cartman out on how he treats Butters, he'd think Butters is "corrupting" Kenny and trying to ruin his and Kenny's BFF-ship.

The way he reacted in concern about Kenny's girlfriend being a slut who would just "throw his heart in his face" in the episode "The Ring" has me convinced, that Cartman somewhat weirdly cares about Kenny's relationships, and not just in a self-serving way. This isn't in an attempt to alienate Kenny, but rather alienate the potential partner, and we've seen a LOT of instances in which Cartman does not have any qualms about painting Butters as the bad guy and/or someone to be made fun of.

As much as I'd love to advocate for some kind of compassion Cartman could express for Butters, their friendship is just not built on that. Butters and Cartman get along well enough, but only as long as Butters goes along with everything Cartman says. Once he goes against it, Cartman either goes LIVID or completely dismisses/invalidates his concerns. Some good episode where you can conclude this, are "Let Them Eat Goo", "The Death of Eric Cartman", "DikinBaus Hotdogs", "Poor and Stupid", "The Magic Bush", "Tegridy Farms", "Super Fun Time" and about a hundred more, but when I think of Butters & Cartman's friendship these are the ones that first come to mind.

The only instances where he kind of seems to care about Butters' distress in small ways are in "The Magic Bush" and briefly in "Super Fun Time", but it's not significant enough to qualify for the genuine respect I see him show Kenny (or even Stan). I can write a whole essay about the nuance of Cartman and Butters' friendship, but that's for some other time. In short: Cartman really likes having Butters do whatever he says, and Butters doesn't even need to do anything particularly defiant for Cartman to start putting him down (ex. the ending of the "The Death of Eric Cartman" episode.) If Kenny, who is Cartman's weird soft spot, started going against Cartman in favor of Butters, whose established dynamic with Cartman completely benefits him, I can imagine that this would rub Cartman the wrong way.

I could be convinced though, that once Cartman realizes how sad it made Kenny, if (thanks to one of Cartman's schemes) his and Butters' relationship were to not work out, Cartman would begrudgingly take some kind of pity on Kenny (and maybe even Butters) and recognize that being together is what makes them both happy. He then would do another scheme that gets them back together, and "Smug Alert"-esque not want them to know that it's thanks to him hahahh

So yeah, it could be kind of "both", but, in my humble opinion, only AFTER Cartman damages their relationship almost beyond repair in an attempt to keep them apart. Which is why I, personally, would still go for the "manipulative-anti-matchmaker" option. But I purposely didn't add a "both" option bc most people would go for that without thinking it over too much lmao

Thank you so much for the ask anon, sorry for taking so long to respond but you truly made me think about this a lot ahaha this kinda turned into an analysis of the trio more than an answer to your ask, I hope you don't mind. You made my braincells fire off

[ashilrak]

Hi! So sorry to bother you! I just finished 'If you ask me for my fire' and I really enjoyed it! However, it brought up a question that has been nagging me for some time when I read any Perpollo or Percy x god with a similar premise, and I thought what better to ask someone who has written a few fics with that theme - IF Percy got with a god and took the immortality route (whether forced or not) would that god be loyal? In the case of your fic would Apollo stay by Percy's side for all eternity, really? Would he never stray at all? - I know it's not the easiest question and I apologise but I'd love to hear some insight, especially since the fic I chose is so ambiguous in the end like yeah he absolutely forced him to immortality but only to have him by his side for eternity, to me the more important question is now Apollo has got what he wanted does he stay loyal? If forever is all that he has, then would he really spend it with Percy? At the end of the day he is a god - a Greek one at that - and they aren't known for Loyalty and pure singular devotion for their spouses.

Again, sorry about this question! I know its more nuanced than I'm making this poorly worded Tumblr ask to be, and I mean in general not just for your fic, but your fic is really good and a good example for the question cause in the case of your fic Percy says he doesn't know but loyalty is so important to him, he would probably stay out of that (and fear and sadness) and never ever stray but say it's a different situation where someone like maybe Hephaestus did something similar maybe forced, or maybe Percy chose it doesn't matter but would Hephaestus then stay loyal?

Honestly would love to hear the insight, your own biased answer not a generalisation, if you know anyone else that can give their own unique answers, please pass this along! I know you're close to mrthology and other big Perpollo writers, so all answers are good, but you don't have to! Sorry, that's kind of rude of me to ask.

Also, the second part of this question would be, If they do stay loyal through everything, what kind of message does that send? Is Percy really that more important that he could stop the biggest serial adulterers to stop completely? That's he can do what countless others have tried to do, and he wasn't even trying that hard. That he was enough when others weren't? - BUT that's not important, ignore that, I'm just being insane this is a children's book series.

I'm glad you enjoyed the fic!

So, if Percy were to become immortal and enter a relationship with a God, would that God stay loyal? You're right in that there's a lot of nuance to the question and that everyone is going to look at it differently. It's definitely a question I like playing around a lot with in my fics.

I get pretty long-winded in my response, but I have a feeling you won't mind lol

For the purposes of this conversation, we're going to assume loyal = monogamous (I could see Percy being polyamorous in a closed way, like percy/annabeth/apollo or the 7 or something, but not in a way where one or more partners are having casual sex with people Percy doesn't know, but that's not that important here). This point will be addressed later.

My gut instinct is no. With perpollo specifically, I do think there might be a short period of time where Apollo is loyal to Percy. But, I think that loyalty would be more incidental than anything. For a while, Apollo would be absolutely obsessed with Percy and during that time Apollo might be monogamous. But it's the same way he might become obsessed with some shiny new instrument and only play that for a short period of time. How long this era of loyalty/obsession might last is somewhere a lot of people might differ.

But, as time went on, their story would fall in line with every other pairing among the Gods. There might be a sort of constancy there, but there will always be dallying. Hell, within the PJO verse specifically, Demigods serve a purpose and Apollo's cabin is full to bursting at any given moment. I don't think it becoming empty would be something that's easily accepted, and to get demigods, you need infidelity.

Apollo staying loyal is something I've explored, specifically in Electing Strange Perfections. In that fic, Apollo tricks Percy into immortality and Percy becomes the God of Loyalty. Through Hera and a series of events, Apollo marries Percy. Consequently, Apollo cannot stray due to Percy's domain/powers/influence. In other words, it takes an outside influence.

Part of why I think this is due to how I see and write the Gods for the fics. They are inhuman, ancient beings who have lived on a scale the human mind cannot comprehend. I like to see the Greek Gods as feeling everything so intensely, with human emotion being watered down. It's fun to play with the idea of humans lives, love, and feelings being more valuable for being so short-lived rather than for their intensity. Rarity increasing value sorta thing. Also the idea that the Gods simply are their domains and what that makes myths look like in the context of human experience. Like of course Hades took Demeter's daughter, that's what death does (I'm referencing a tumblr post here I can't find to link).

Riordan's Gods are very humanized. I personally like to play with the idea of that being a result of changing with the times, but their core still being the same. Sure, they might soften themselves for modern demigods due to time and cultures changing expectations, but that doesn't erase the thousands of years that very much wasn't the case. It's a fun dichotomy to play with in fic where you can do whatever you want. I like the Gods being Gods tag.

In the world of Percy Jackson, myths are history. The morals of Greek mythology are different from what we're used to seeing, but that doesn't mean they're not there. The myths depict cruelties and horrors, but often these same cruelties were justified to the Gods enacting them. And those are the Gods we're reading and writing about when you're playing with PJO.

I do love reading and writing the softer moments between the Demigods and the Gods. Whether that's parental, friendships, or romantic. But Apollo helping someone heal doesn't erase the fact that he is also the God of plague; like the black plague, the spanish influenza, covid-19, cancer -- that's all him. With these softer moments, that doesn't erase everything else the Gods do and have done, and that they will forever look at their actions in a different way. I think there's a sort of obligation there too, as part of their domains. Ares will always be war.

And I think this obligation extends to their affairs. Ares has children with soldiers, Athena has kids with academics -- they're falling for their own domains. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but how can you fault the god of thieves for falling for a thief? And I do think there's love, it just looks so very different from what we might be used to.

All this to say, long-term monogamy is not in Apollo's wheelhouse. He's married to the muses by some accounts. Apollo is the God of so many things: music and healing just to name the few. I don't think he'll permanently change millennia of behavior for Percy, no matter how romantic that sounds. A musician who performs for the love of the song is going to catch Apollo's eye because that is to perform for the love of Apollo, even if the musician in question doesn't know that.

Earlier, I said for the purposes of this question we'll define loyal as monogamous, and I think that's part of the crux of the matter. I think Percy would see affairs and demigods as a sign of disloyalty. I don't think Apollo would if Apollo always comes back to Percy. This is a much more understandable difference in view point and one we see between people on the daily.

And definitely reach out to a few others; it's a super fascinating conversation! These questions are part of why I love reading and writing the Demigod/God fics so much -- Demigods have a better idea of what they're getting into, which makes all of these things stand out so much more when the God doesn't have to hide. I know @mrthology and I are definitely aligned regarding the Apollo and loyalty question, but I can't speak for anyone else!

[phoenixcatch7]

Just finished oracle of ages!!! Good game, good game. I have Thoughts.

I actually really enjoyed the story and characters! I figured going into the oracle games that it'd be a simple, cliché story, not much nuance or depth, and with Seasons that's basically what I got: din gets fridged in a crystal at the start of the game -> go get her -> you need a set of maguffins to do so -> fight big monster.

Admittedly it was the first game, which meant less story, but even if I hadn't linked (heh) the games for extra end game content Ages just did so much more.

Unlike din, naryu has someone else willing to help her. Ralph (the twinkiest twink to ever twink) was a young man who was her devoted friend (there was a weird crush triangle thing going on with him, Link and naryu, I always felt like I was missing subtext) and, spoilers for a 20yo game?? I guess?

He was the dethroned descendant of the ancient queen Ami. His family definitely still have big money though. He was pretty clearly supposed to be a comic relief character with a twist, but I ended up really liking him! He was over enthusiastic and over confident, but not unintelligent, a decent swordsman (I think) who was incredibly loyal to his friends and held some deep rooted responsibility for the people his family used to rule. Kind, determined, good with kids and people in general, he was terrified but willing to sacrifice his very existence to save the people.

The world building was also great! I don't think I've ever played a zelda game without gorons, but hylians were in short supply. To be expected outside of hyrule, I guess? Anyway, there were also lizard people on an island (tokay!) whose entire deal was.. A bit outdated? Rude, brazen and aggressive to outsiders, they lived in crude huts, worshipped things they didn't quite understand and were generally the old Hollywood stereotype of an isolated jungle tribe.

There was also, like, zora racism? There's a zora village underwater, and one of them was like 'us sea zora are nothing like those river zora 😒' which handily solved both my question of if the river/ocean zora divide was canon or fanon and the relationships between the two. Are they even the same species?? It just makes the rito even weirder but hey lmao. In all honesty I was pretty sick of the river zora at that point too, I swear there were two of them popping up in every screen that had even a sliver of water deeper than the knees and they CONSTANTLY shot fireballs istg they were such a pain. They were literally everywhere and so hard to kill.

On the plus side mermaid suit ^u^!! A dungeon item (the mermaids cave), the item had a desc like 'the skin of the mythical beast' which raised SO many more questions than it answered. The zora were delighted to see a young mermaid! The use of 'maid' implied either a) the zora all thought link was a girl and he didn't correct them (eyo genderqueer androgeny) b) the zora don't subscribe to gender the way humans do (eyo genderqueer androgeny) or c) all fish people look like mermaids regardless of their specific gender (eyo genderqueer androgeny). It literally could have been all three who knows. Maybe one day we'll actually meet a mermaid in zelda.

Also, there's a mini game in Seasons, which I played first, the subrosian dance. It's a pretty popular part of their culture, it's got music, it's got professional dancers. In Ages, you find the gorons doing the exact same dance! Rosa, a subrosian performer you meet in Seasons, is also there, saying her people's dance is better (tbf it is), but if you go to the past you'll find the gorons actually invented the dance first, as part of their love of games and entertainment, and you can talk to two subrosians who are talking about bringing the dance home! It's so interesting to see little details like this, where the travelling subrosians visited their fellow cave dweller lava eating people centuries ago, brought it back home where it exploded in popularity and centuries later became refined as a whole folk dance with spinning and everything, with the people forgetting where it came from, where the gorons keep their dance exactly the same (having to do a rhythm game without rhythm is hard).

Actually, there was so much political fantasy drama going on in the past?? Like, you've got the childless queen taking care of her people, a budding village and a few more settlements across the kingdom. Early in her reign she tried to build a tower to act as a beacon to her fiancé lost at sea, which is a romance story all on its own, but it was cut short (maybe because of funding?). Centuries in the future, it's just ruins. You've got people living on an ACTIVE VOLCANO starting a symmetry cult around a artifact called 'tuni nut' which, presumably, stabilises the volcano? And it's entirely cut off from the outside world. The goron elder is crushed under rocks and their economy is failing. The zora king got poisoned and he's about to die without an heir because a witch turned the fairy queen into an octorock, but the man in charge of the only cure refuses to hand it over until someone passes his tests.

Most of it is solved relatively easily by link and a copious amount of time travel, but the thing with the ruling queen only gets worse. When the evil witch invades the kingdom, she possesses the oracle of ages, naryu (who's a little implied to be the Actual Creation Goddess Naryu reincarnated) and travels back to the past to bring about an age of despair in the present. She does this by slipping into the royal court and befriending the queen as a serving girl, rising up the ranks to become her closest advisor and corrupting her (pretty sure mind control magic is used a li'l). She convinces her to restart the black tower project, pouring all of her and the towns resources into it - forcibly conscripting every able bodied worker and working them to the bone, all while monsters start to circle the tower. With all the fear and resentment, it quickly becomes a beacon of dark energy, a perfect focal point to perform black magics.

Link (and Ralph) end up in the past and get hauled in front of the queen, with possessed naryu at her side, who basically jeers at them and ensures the queen won't listen to their untrustworthy lies. The townsfolk are getting increasingly stressed as their village fills with rubble and their men are worked to the point of collapse. Armed guards start to appear to keep the workers under control. Eventually, Ralph uncovers a hole in the guard rotation, and he and link sneak into the palace through a secret entrance Ralph oh so casually knows about. Link and naryu fight, but with stupendous timing the queen walks in to see naryu collapsed on the floor, Link standing over her with a sword. She calls for the guards, but before anyone can react, the witch, banished form her first vessel, leaps into the queen herself instead. Ralph shoves past the arriving guards and into naryus arms, while link moves in from of them. The queen orders the guards to attack, but naryu, reawakened, pulls them back to the present in the nick of time. In the present, the black tower is magically growing, reaching higher and higher into the sky, terrifying the people of the city.

Then! Ralph, who at this point is suspiciously invested now his actual goal is completed and naryu is safe, vows to go back into time again, away from naryu, to live under the now evil queen and bring protection and comfort to the villagers as a direct act of resistance, because the witch is feeding on their sorrow to power an unknown ritual (link knows. Link, canonically, has told nobody). So this teen in fancy robes and cape goes back to the oppressed, poverty stricken town under the thumb if someone who wants him dead and lives there for weeks if not months dedicating himself to supporting the village and bringing people's hopes and spirits back up, presumably while living out of someone else's wooden hut. In the middle of a literal depression inducing miasma that's sapping everyone's joy and will to live.

That just. Takes insane strength of character. That's a feat of pure, distilled, compassion as anarchy.

Link's off bouncing between past and present doing dungeons and solving easier issues through either sword or magic item, but Ralph is out here doing the long hard slog for little reward.

Link finally returns to the black tower completed, affecting even the people of the present, and, preparations complete, rushes to the past. Ralph is nowhere be seen. Talking to the villagers reveals several have a crush on him, but an old man saw him running for the tower, sword drawn. There's a man pacing by the entrance, who saw the kid run in, tried to stop him. He said Ralph said that he no longer cared what happened to him. That the man realised that Ralph had quietly succumbed to the same curse of despair they all were under. Link fights his way up to the top of the tower, where Ralph confronts the evil queen, sword at her heart, but every step she takes into it, he steps back. The witch laughs. She asks him if he's really willing to write himself out of existence - being the queens descendant, and all. Ralph leaps back, into links chest. He's shaking and stuttering, but he lunges, and is knocked out in one blow. The queen now asks link the same question: is he willing to erase Ralph? If he strikes her, kills her, the queen will die, childless, and he will never live. She leaves, and link rushes to Ralph. He's awake but unresponsive, defeated. With a heavy heart, Link leaves him to chase the queen. It's naryu who finds him, brings him out of the tower.

When the witch is defeated, the curse is lifted, and Ralph is once more energetic and kind. He's a little quieter now, though, sticking close to naryu. For all he was a loud and headstrong kid, I gotta say I was very impressed.

He would have made a good king.

[squwhims]

Joker Out Members Ranked on Their Ability To Aid Someone Bringing a Ring To Mordor

Very niche ranking, but I was cleaning out my google account and remembered that I made a google slide titled, "The List: Fictional Men Who Make Me Kick My Lil Feet Up & Giggle"...number one man on that list being Samwise Gamgee. In that, I made a compare and contrast section and one of the slides is ranking the fictional men on how good they would be at making the journey to Mordor.

Obviously, these guys here are not fictional, so take this with nuance since I am pulling these opinions out of my butt, but I love it when people post their thoughts on Joker Out as (blank), so I will too!

Number One: Nace

Nace definitely has it in him to get someone through this type of situation. This ranking is not based on "physically could he get you to and from Mordor" (because the whole premise of this trip is that a man under 120cm managed to do it), but I do think Nace's strength would be an added bonus. I think that Nace has the best emotional capabilities for this quest. Out of everyone in the band, I feel like he is the most grounded and down to earth member. I think he would have the patience to deal with the emotional toll of the quest, like, it would be difficult to get through, but I feel like he has a very persevering spirit and would be able to survive off of memories of the things he loves back home, and he'd always try his hardest not to make the situation worse with negativity. He's got humility and I don't think he would judge someone for breaking down on the quest. I have no lived proof of him being a safe man, but he seems very safe, you could trust him to guard you while you sleep. He would stay loyal through the whole trek to Mordor and he would tell wonderful stories at the campfire that comfort you and remind you of where you started.

Number Two: Jure

Now, this ranking is based more on "could he physically get you to and from Mordor" because although he doesn't capture the pure-of-heart, patience, down to earth, loyalty that Sam represents, by god...he would plop you down on his motorbike and the trip would take no more than a week. I raised myself the question, "how would he handle the emotional toll though?" and I raise myself the answer: I don't think you'd have time to dwell on the fear and homesickness and dread. I think Jure would be a busy-body on the quest. I think he'd be foraging, cooking, cleaning all the gear, putting unknown plants into his pipe and smoking it just to see what happens, and he'd be climbing EVERYTHING. I simply don't think there would be space in his quest to feel anything. Closer and closer to the doom of Mordor he would be speeding things up. He has the least amount of apparent Sam-like qualities, but this ranking is not called "Joker Out members ranked on their Sam-like qualities", this is based purely on COULD HE GET YOU THERE IN ONE PIECE?! Jure could simply walk into Mordor and that is enough.

Number Three: Bojan

This was a real toss up, because on one hand I feel like he has quite a bit of persevering, mental strength, he is a bit of a silly goose and would be a hoot to travel with...but on the other hand I feel like he is leaning closer to the Frodo side of the spectrum deep down. The quest would start off with high sprits, you know, he'd be leaving home with a smile on his face and pep in his step. He'd be so excited to see the elves and the world and meet new people...but then one bad thing would happen at the start of the second quarter of the quest and he would begin to crack. Gandalf/other mentor figure in this hypothetical situation would die and that would be his breaking point. Working through the emotional toll of the trek would be HARD. Physically, I think he could do it...but mentally...idk man. The guy already gets panic attacks on the regular and I don't think he would be of any help to someone who needed to dispose of a ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Maybe that would be beneficial to the team because he'd be down in the dumps with you despite the fact that YOU are carrying the weight of the world around YOUR neck. So idk, we're all in this together? I'm sure he'd have good moments. He would definitely try his best to stay positive.

Number Four: Jan

Too Frodo coded to aid someone on their quest to Mordor. I'm not saying this to wimpify Jan, because physically, I do think he would be capable— really, the quest is just a long walk in the woods, so I feel like he would start the quest off doing fine. Sight-seeing with a cane in his hand: delightful. It would be a very quiet quest, but he'd be present. However, I feel like the pressure of getting to Mordor would be weighing on him the whole time. I don't think he is built to carry that much weight in his heart all alone. The fate of the world resting on his shoulders? He's gotta get his buddy across the world and through countless dangers? Doesn't know if either of them will survive? Once you start, there is no going back? Yeah, no. I don't think Jan is built to play the Sam role on this quest. He is Frodo. Someone is gonna need to be there to pick him up when he falls face-first into a bog due to lack of will to live and cut him free from spiderwebs and shit.

Number Five: Kris

Gonna be honest, I don't think Kris would have went on this quest. If Gandalf told him he had to go with Frodo I think that Kris would have said no. He has assessed all the potential dangers of the quest, he doesn't have anything to prove, he doesn't even really like Frodo that much; he would say no to going. Of course, it is mandatory that he goes and he gets forced into going. I think that Kris would have a good time with the elves, his brothers and sisters in height. Yeah, he'd have a great time with them. You'd be on your deathbed getting healed after being stabbed and Kris would be getting philosophical with the elves, learning archery and shit. He'd be feeling pretty good after that and more at ease going on the quest, but I don't think he would really care about you. Like he doesn't want you to die (because that would mean that now he'd need to hold onto the ring) but he decided a long time ago that he is working through his emotions on his own, and you are working on yours alone. Not a bad quest buddy if you are stoic. This sounds really mean, I don't mean to be mean!! He'd make a really great Legolas!

[mintytealfox]

Hi! I'm super new to IDV and keep seeing a lot of art (official and fan) with Fools Gold and Alice! I love it all, but I was wondering is there a canon or fanon reason for their connection, or is it just a ship that developed based on their personalities? :)

EEYYYYYY~ I would LOVE for nortalice to be canon but I will be shocked if they make any coupling canon outside of psychologist (Ada Mesmer) and patient (Emil) and if they throw in Geisha's husbando and AKA mostly those who were already coupled before the manor games~

But I personally think there is potential there~ the Da Capo game (the one they are concentrating on in the main story) heavily leans on the Greek Lore of Orpheus and Eurydice~ with the cast consisting of The confirmed roles are these two: Orpheus: Novelist Eurydice: Alice/Journalist then the potential roles are as follows: Hades: Norton/Prospector/Fool's Gold Persephone: Melly/Entomologist not sure where Frederick goes, he will probably throw a wrench into this entire thing LOL

EDIT: So technically Melly and Norton could fall for each other cause of Hades and Persephone (I wouldn't be opposed to that either honestly cause that ship is my second love LOL I don't necessarily see them as romantic but I wouldn't be upset if they got together cause of the hades and persephone thing. plus whenever they are in anything together they are constantly memeing on the other and trying to get ahead at the cost of the other loool so I think they meme on each other a little too much for things to get romantical lol but who knows they could prove me wrong one day)

BUT WE AREN'T HERE TALKING ABOUT NORTMELLY RIGHT NOW LOL right now is NORTALICE TIME LOL

but I love em cause of their personalities and I feel like they would balance each other pretty well~

for example, Alice with her OCD would be calmed by Norton's matter of fact and 'it will be fine just work hard' view on things. ((that is what helps me with my OCD anyways lol is someone I trust taking my hands and saying its fine) I have an entire post about hand movements and I went into how Norton's movements are quick and precises and deliberate and Alice would need that for grounding 👀 While Norton needs a gentle touch cause that would be so unfamiliar to him that it would make him stop in his tracks I think~)) ANYWAY OFF TOPIC

Then vice versa with Norton and his gloom view on the world and Alice comes in with optimism and cheery-ness lol. She will protect her lil grumpy people LOL

Alice 👇 Norton👇

So I guess to answer your question, its definitely on their personalities and completely based on potential~ The potential and nuance is there with what we know about them so far and there is the hope that Norton will turncoat in the story, with Melly convincing him to help her save Alice 👏👏 I just like adding the little bit of spice of 'you two get together and heal together okay' I feel like they would balance each other out well~

Norton needing that softness and Alice needing that wall to lean on. And I think they would work so well together~

I hope I somewhat answered your question, I feel like I was all over the place LOL my baaaad

also I have no idea why they keep having Alice looking so down bad for Fool's Gold 🤣🤣🤣🤣BUT I LOVE IT SO DARN MUUCCHH LOOOOL (and added to the fuel for this raging fire that is my love for Nortalice)👏👏👏🤌🤌🤌🤌💞💞💞but it has me LAUGHING at the fact that on hallucinogens drugs she STILL sees Norton as a knock out BABE -WHEEEZZEEE-

[swallowerofdharma]

The language of that fall from grace won’t get us home*

I really love manga as a visual language and its various possibilities of storytelling. Among the vocabulary that can be oh so cleverly used, there is the juxtaposition of images or scenes to show similarities or contrast between concepts in the arc of a single chapter. In chapter 2 Yashiro and Doumeki have the first serious talk between them. This time deflection is out of the question and Doumeki has to give up his background and family history, since his sister Aoi has been loitering outside of the office. Yashiro is surprised to learn that Doumeki was in the police and, even if he lost his job and served a prison sentence, his motives and actions were far from the common acts of violence committed by petty criminals who become yakuza. “There is one thing I want to ask you though. How did a former police officer end up in a place like this? Why didn’t you leave when you were told to work for me?” Yashiro asks. And the answer probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to Yashiro. Because Doumeki saw him and thought he was beautiful and a beautiful person in the yakuza meant that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to get involved? Without beating around the bush, Yashiro asks directly if Doumeki is gay. Maybe he discovered it in prison? So here there are probably some nuances that need a little bit of attention and some flexibility. I don’t really know who is going to read my analysis but surely enjoying this manga are people from different backgrounds and cultural contexts. Are you gay? Is this character gay? What definitions are we using? Let’s be clear then first, this is just an attempt to analyze what Yashiro and Doumeki talk about, not general statements or definitions. So let’s stay in the text, with these characters and their particular experiences and thoughts and hang-ups and their critical vocabulary. After all shouldn’t understanding come before agreement or disagreement? So let’s suspend our beliefs for a moment while reading the chapter.

“Are you a homo? Did you learn the pleasures of anal while you were in prison?”

“I don’t think I’m homosexual. I never was. But since I can’t get it up right now, I can’t say for sure”.

First of all, for these men to define their sexuality the body seems like the place to look, physical responses are less vague than just thinking someone is attractive. Finding anal sex pleasurable or getting an erection, being able to perform, as in maintaining an erection, and reaching an orgasm, these are observable facts, these are things very basic and easy to understand. And even when this is putting it simply, the reasoning around defining sexual orientation for men comes back to the physical reality often in the common language, in the crass language and in practice. Having become impotent and never having experienced anal sex from the receiving end, from the body’s standpoint Doumeki can’t know more than two things: he wasn’t gay before, we will learn more later about his experiences with women, but he knows that he rejected sexual advances in prison or didn’t feel anything about the guy who gave him a blowjob, while with Yashiro something is different. Yashiro inquires further, after all a young man having an infatuation with an older man can be quite common, but often it’s just admiration and the desire for mentorship, guidance and recognition, rather then being something sexual in nature. If Doumeki can’t be sure because he doesn’t get hard, then maybe he can admit that he felt some form of repulsion towards Yashiro when he gave him a blowjob or when he had gay sex in front of him. I think this is the direction of the dialogue until Doumeki says something unexpected: “I’m not sure. I’ve never met anyone like you in my entire life so…”. Suddenly Yashiro is the one who deflects from the conversation, although he can’t help a gesture of affection for this man who doesn’t express disgust towards his behavior.

Little digression here, but following the logic of physical response and physical pleasure only, Yashiro saying that he is bisexual makes a lot of sense since he feels arousal and gets hard with women too, although he prefers the pleasure he gets from being on the receiving end with men. Matters of consent don’t seem to count in this reasoning, although Yashiro gets angry when Doumeki cosplaying as a cop says that if someone doesn’t object or is into it then that can’t be considered rape, at the beginning of chapter 4. I believe there is something inside Yashiro that knows how wrong that idea actually is, that sometimes you are unable to voice your dissent out loud or your body doesn’t fight it but instinctively retreats into what it learned from experience and worked before, even fabricating pleasure from pain. And that maybe physical responses aren’t reliable enough to make sense of our feelings. But there is another experience that Yashiro knows, and that is that his feelings for Kageyama are independent from what little physical touch passed between them, he knows and can say out loud that he fell in love with a man. That is confirmation enough that Yashiro is queer, something outside of the logic of physical pleasure, something that Yashiro still doesn’t find easier to accept than his sexual preferences and desires. On the contrary, Doumeki as he is at the moment, can only rely on his feelings, since his body is dormant, and those feelings become impossible to ignore or discard because they are calling him and awakening him, giving him hope and direction when he had felt like he had lost everything. So why did I start this analysis announcing a juxtaposition?

The rain keeps falling as we transition into another day when Aoi is back, this time under her own umbrella. Yashiro manages to get her in a caffè to talk alone, without Doumeki knowing, and even tells her about his own experience, because having someone else who knows what that’s like is more than just a generic expression of sympathy. Yashiro can’t help but be self deprecating and stating how different he actually is from her - we will learn how he convinced himself that rape is harder on women or that he somehow doesn’t deserve to be treated with any sort of care. But Aoi, although she is surprised, doesn’t judge him harder than she judges herself as well, for putting Doumeki and her family in an awful situation. Not a lot a pages, not a lot of words, but there are so many things being said or implied, so much complexity and an instant connection. When she confesses her feelings for her brother and she shows how confused and conflicted she is and she cries because her love was not only unrequited but also unnatural, since she is sure she would have loved him even if there was a blood relation, Yashiro recognizes the same type of pain he felt when he recognized his feelings for Kageyama. Stripped down to his own honest responses and after all his stepfather did to him, he still couldn’t help but love a man and one who rejected him. Love came to both Yashiro and Aoi regardless their impossible circumstances and felt wrong and painful and unacceptable to the ones they directed their feelings to. For a moment, we don’t know how long, Yashiro can only watch Aoi cry silently, while his cigarette turns into ashes. And looking out at the window, at the light coming through after the rain, he makes a decision, he won’t fire Doumeki unless he asks to leave himself. Notice how these types of decisions come and how things can change, how these characters are following their hopes or intuition until the next moment they are confronted with another decision to make, another circumstance, and how the storytelling is based on the characters’ little weaknesses and on serendipity, so much so that if we don’t pay enough attention we can miss these delicate threads. This is Yoneda-Sensei’s storytelling. And the composition of the chapter works around these images and these three people trying to make sense of falling in love in ways that defy common beliefs or expectations, ever their own. How they are getting caught in a love that feels distinct and not subject to some type of physical response or banal logic or law or rationale. How useless is fighting against it sometimes, or how love can feel like pain and feel like hope at the same time.

*frase is from a review written by Kevin Brazil about a book called An Apartment on Uranus by Paul B. Preciado and published in ArtReview on March 1st, 2020.

[eddiediazismyhusband]

Thanks so much for your thoughtful response! I definitely see Eddie leaning towards gay as well. If anything I think he’s demi just based on the way he has such a hard time connecting to his past love interests (who he barely knew before dating) vs Shannon (his best friend) and how he treats that relationship. I’m not sure I’m fully on the aro Eddie train yet either but I love hearing everyone else thoughts. I was just curious about it because as someone who discovered they were aro-spec later in life as an adult, a lot of Eddie’s behaviors and things he’s said (dating feeling like a performance standing out a lot to me) just really resonate with the way I feel. Plus regardless of whether you ship Buddie platonically or romantically, there’s just something incredibly queer about their dynamic.

Even if we never get Buddie (I still believe we’re heading in that direction tho!) their relationship just screams queer platonic life partners to me which is something I don’t think I’ve ever really seen on TV and it’s just soooo important to me.

Ryan’s interviews truly mean so much to me for all the reasons you said. I love how much he loves Eddie and how much love and respect he not only treats him, but h tbh e fans.

Anyway thanks for sharing your thoughts! I love hearing your perspective and obviously these are only my thoughts/opinions as a probably very biased ace aro-spec queer woman. Lots of love! Hope your day…night…morning also is going amazing <3

No I agree, Ryan’s interviews always showcase how much love and care he has for both the fans and the characters, especially with how supportive he is of the fans interpreting Eddie in a way they can relate too, and how important that is to have a character like that.

Like I’ve mentioned plenty of times before I deeply relate to Eddie for various reasons, and having Ryan say that those of us who do are seen and heard in our love for the character is so special.

I may not always like that he gets put in PR jail and sometimes has to be really can-y, scripted, answering-without-really-answering questions in interviews when we all know that man is a little chaos demon who lives on trying to back the writers into a corner (along with oliver, forever the captains of our ship 🫡) but even still, you can always tell that he is so deeply intune with Eddie and how much the audience loves and cares for him, and all the nuances and complexities that come with a character like him.

I genuinely mean this when I say it, but I don’t think I have ever seen a character with as much emotional complexity and depth on a procedural drama, and i unfortunately think that’s a reason why so many people don’t like him because they don’t necessarily understand where he’s at mentally, and where he has come from, which just makes him all the more special to me.

I love getting to dive deep into the minds of characters, so your original ask (and this one too!) was so fun for me to sit down and think out— thanks for giving me an excuse to yap about eddie 💕💕

[autisticlancemcclain]

I would like to preface this by saying that I don’t think VLD intended for this nuance to be possible. When they originally made the characters and gave them their lions, I think they made them very one dimensional (hence why everyone’s outfit matched their lion colour), but I think they also started several background plots that drastically changed each character, to the point where they no longer fit the molds they were originally intended to be. That’s why Black Paladin Keith and Red Paladin Lance hit so hard. They were originally assigned lions according to the personality we saw in the first episode, and those personas changed so much and went through so much growth throughout the show that seeing them in their original lions would feel wrong. The change of lion was necessary to their growth as people and that is a fascinating storyline, one that VLD gets zero credit for because they definitely did not intend it (I know because if they did it could have been done way better and with way more nuance). Anyways. I present to you each paladin, what they want, and what they needed but could not get until they grew and accepted themselves.

PALADIN: Shiro

LION HE WANTS: Black

LION HE NEEDS: Green (or, honestly, rest)

Now this is a controversial take. Shiro? The natural born leader? The one who everyone listens to without question? Him? In Green? But hear me out! As much as he exudes an aura of someone who can provide answers, I have to ask — did he ever really, truly, want to be the person everyone relied on? I don’t really think he did.

From what we were shown, Shiro grew up ill. He grew up in a constant state, I would assume, of people telling him that he was incapable of achieving great things. I would imagine this would solidify in his head that he had to achieve great things, or else he would fail himself. I think that’s why he and Adam fought so hard. In an effort to keep Shiro safe (and as someone who may have known Shiro better than he knew himself but was incapable of articulating that in a way that was loving instead of controlling), Adam became one of the many people who told Shiro what he couldn’t do. And Shiro, who was desperate (interestingly, much like Lance) to prove himself, gunned for the position of leadership. And to his credit he performs this leadership exceptionally well! He knows how to comfort and steer people and gain their trust. But at the core of him, I think all Shiro ever wanted to do was explore. Look at his excitement for the Kerberos mission — as much as he, in part, accepted that mission as a show of strength and health, he is a nerd. He wanted to explore and he wanted to explore badly. Even throughout the show, he’s a dorky nerd who gets very excited to learn new things and meet new people. He’s intensely curious, intelligent, and inquisitive, so I think green would be his best fit. (Also, his biology and geology geek ass would love forest powers.)

PALADIN: Keith

LION HE WANTS: Red

LION HE NEEDS: Black

I have talked endlessly about this exact thing before, and I’ll do it again, but this time in more detail.

Keith was struck with a truly heartbreaking amount of trauma in a very short amount of time. He lost everyone he ever loved, quickly, and from what we could see of the flashbacks, his attempts to reach out for help were often met with disdain or even blame. This, I imagine, would paint a very specific picture of life for Keith: it sucks, and it is something that happens to you. Something you can’t control. That’s why he wants to red paladin — since he assumes there’s no control in his life, he acts out, he’s impulsive because he’s been conditioned unfairly to look out only for himself, trust no one for help, and therefore does not often consider or care about the consequences of his actions. With shiro as the black paladin, Keith does not need to offer support as the red paladin, and so in that position he can fully exercise his wild and impulsive tendencies. In fact Shiro was often the one supporting him, and so a lot of his impulses worked out for him. In the red lion he isn’t forced to seek change in himself — at most he is expected to work within a team, which is new, but because of the expectation of his wild tendencies, he doesn’t have to undergo much change.

As the black paladin, Keith is suddenly responsible for everyone else. He can no longer fall back on the idea that he cannot get help from others and he’s the only person he has to worry about. Now, not only is he looked to as the one to make decisions, he actively has to rely on every other person on his team — the black lion is the head, which means it’s held up by the body! Keith is as reliant on his team as they are on him. He now has to carefully weigh almost every single one of his decisions, and untangle the harmful outlook on life that was forced on him. He has to accept that he is not at fault for the trauma he went through, he has to learn how to love and trust. Also, his lack of desire for power makes him a better leader in the long run, because he is less likely to be corrupt because of it.

PALADIN: Lance

LION HE WANTS: Black

LION HE NEEDS: Red

As much as Lance does and obviously enjoy being the blue paladin, if he was asked, in the beginning, to choose one, he’d choose black. And we know that’s true because when he had the potential chance to be Black’s paladin, he jumped for it.

It’s because Lance desperately wants people to listen to him. Much like Shiro, Lance — as the youngest sibling and as someone who we saw face so much pointless and even cruel scrutiny — wants to prove himself. He wants to be the best, he wants to be on top, and most of all, he wants to be appreciated for what he offers. Many of his skills are under appreciated, because although he is unbelievably talented in the things he can do, the path life took him on does not place a lot of value on the skills he has. Dance & arts, tension-breaking, long-range fighting — all of these are often considered frivolous and/or expected to be quiet skills. These aren’t things that get praised in the setting of war or battle, and Lance, as someone who is very insecure, needs that praise and validation. As the black paladin his skills and decisions would have a direct impact on the people around him, which would prove an instant validation for him to see, and as the black paladin he would be free from any shadows (like Keith’s).

But, ironically, Lance’s skill aren’t suited for solo leadership, not the way he wants. Lance does have many skills of a leader, that’s true, but that’s why he’s so good at the red paladin — specifically Keith’s red paladin, although so long as he would have the position of right hand man (unlike Keith with Shiro’s leadership, which was very solo) he could work with anyone.

Lance grew up with people. He never knew a time where he was alone. He learnt simply by being alive how to mitigate fights as much as he learnt to escalate them, and how to work with people as much as intentionally upset them. There’s a reason Lance is so good at getting under Keith’s skin, and it’s because he can predict what would make Keith comfortable and is fiery enough to delight in the opposite. Lance can analyze incredibly well, and all of his ideas work best with a partner. He also would have the freedom, as the red paladin, that Keith had — to be as impulsive as he wants to be, but often isn’t, because he’s scared to shake his reputation. Lance, sometimes, visibly wants to go a little apeshit. He likes causing problems. He works well in chaos. But as the blue paladin or the person who is meant to go with the flow, he’s restricted from this desire, and it dampers his ideas and plans. When he’s allowed to think outside the box and move in unexpected ways, he comes up with excellent ideas and puts in new supports that take the team in different directions. Also, by being forced further into Keith’s shadow, he had to learn how to find his light himself, which helped him realize his own worth more than being a leader ever could. If he were to be in Black, he would find himself (due to his worship of Shiro and his lack of faith in himself) in Shiro’s shadow. If he were not forced to find his own worth, it wouldn’t matter which lion he was in, he’d never be able to prove to himself that he was ‘just as good’. By being in Red and as such directly compared to Keith in every aspect, he was able to realize that no, actually, he was individual and that individuality made him strong.

PALADIN: Allura

LION SHE WANTS: Red

LION SHE NEEDS: Yellow

This one was a lot harder to puzzle out.

Allura wants to be her father desperately. She wants to be everything he was. Like Lance, she has placed herself in the shadow of someone she could never be. From what I can tell, Alfor was a very impersonal leader — although he did love and care for his daughter, and presumably his wife, many of his decisions were ruled largely by logic. Allura, on the other hand, is passionate in everything that she does. She loves sparkly things and grand shows and she wants to know everything about everybody and be right in the middle of everything. Alfor wants his people to prosper. Allura wants her people to be happy. You can see Allura’s struggle especially in the beginning — Allura, when trying to emulate her father in her leadership, is kind of a drill sergeant. She is strict and has impossibly high expectations. But when she has the chance to be herself, she is bubbly and kind and excited. She wants the red lion because she wants to be like her father. She wants to hold on to what she has left of him, and is willing to bury herself to do it. She already has a position of unquestioned leadership in the castle, so it’s not necessarily the power she wants, but she doesn’t trust herself to be strong just as she is, so like Keith, she wants the red lion because that’s what’s expected of her.

But Allura likes being right in the middle of things. She likes being the support, likes hearing about people’s lives and doing what she can to help fix problems. She is the definition of a sunshine character, and as the yellow paladin would be able to be as strong as she is soft. Being the yellow paladin would also help her differentiate herself from her father and establish herself as her own person. This would break the heavy burden of expectation she has on her — instead of obsessing over what everyone wants her to be, she can be who she is exactly, and let that be what helps her move forward. The yellow lion would allow her to be as soft and emotional and grieving as she is, without compromising her ability to help guide and support her team and family that mean the world to her.

PALADIN: Hunk

LION HE WANTS: Yellow

LION HE NEEDS: Black

This was a hard one, actually, partially because it does provide some conflict with two people who would best suit Black. Hunk, though, is so versatile that he gets TWO lions that he needs.

LION HE NEEDS: Green

Hunk has a very strange reputation. He’s seen as the sunshine cinnamon roll, which is almost at direct odds with his actual character. Hunk is witty and dry and intensely distrusting. He is the epitome of kind, not nice. He has his suspicions of people and is very fond of his family while also being critical of them, which means that as much as he protects them and cares for them, he’s also willing to protect them from themselves. He’s the one to point out detrimental flaws that others gloss over. He is (mostly) tactful, of course, but he assumes his role as supporter means that he is responsible for pointing out and helping change poor behaviour — which, in fact, is the role of a leader. Hunk also has a very solid view of things in general. He sees situations for what they are and does not struggle to see through smoke and mirrors. He is also capable of being nuanced, even though he prefers things to be black and white. He’s good at taking other peoples feelings into consideration and caring for them while also helping them improve. As the black paladin, he would be able to exercise these abilities in full, as well as utilize his strategic brain to come up with several on-the-fly and reasonable tactical plans.

His surety as a black paladin is directly unlike his role as the yellow paladin, where he often falters due to his anxiety and struggles to be as preppy as he is expected to be. As much as he does like being in the middle of things, he also has a certain need for control, which could be carefully exercised with the black lion. The best way to cure anxiety is to see regular proof that you are capable of overcoming your fears, something that would be obvious in Black. (Also, if Lance were his red paladin, they would be able to utilize their previously established supporting roles and dynamics as leadership ones.)

Alternatively, however, Hunk would work well in the Green Lion. He is just as curious and inquisitive as Shiro and Pidge, although his anxiety and fear of the unknown frequently holds him back from discovery. That’s why he’s so reluctant to trust new people, why he sticks to what he knows. As the green paladin, he’d be the one who’s required to stick his hand out first, the one to mitigate his own anxiety and reckon with the fact that he is not as fallible as he believes he is. He would have to understand that he is capable of things outside of what he’s known to be. It would also help his natural distrust of new people become an intrigue, where instead of assuming new things are threats, he would expect and prepare for the threat while understanding the possibility of progress.

PALADIN: Pidge

LION SHE WANTS: Green

LION SHE NEEDS: Blue

The common theme among each of the original wants and placements is that the paladins force themselves into roles that fit their reputations and expectations. Pidge is no exception. She is curious, and she is inquisitive, but to some degree, that’s all she’s allowed to be. She’s constantly dismissed as a young girl who’s just looking for answers, and so I think that makes her desperate to prove that she’s capable of finding those answers, that she’s the smartest person in the room. In fact it’s when she’s backed into that corner of a one dimensional nerd that she becomes the most volatile. I think she resents that position she’s forced in, and perhaps the time she took over for her brother upset her ability to separate him and the persona she made of herself impersonating him from her real personality, wants, and desires.

But when Pidge is at her strongest, she is thinking about and working towards helping her family. Her greatest and most selfless moments come when she is sacrificing herself to protect those she cares about. Pidge sacrificed her entire identity to find her father and brother, and throughout the show often sacrificed her search for her father and brother to help the universe and the other paladins. Pidge’s greatest shows of strength are when she is protecting, caring, and supporting other people. Also, pidge is incredibly adaptable. Even at her most one dimensional — a coder and programmer — she is constantly hit with huge amounts of obstacles that she must work around on the fly. Most of her young life has been impossibly high hurdles that she’s had to work around. She doesn’t seek those problems out, but rather they are forced upon her, and she uses her resources and intelligence to work with them and eventually overcome them, which speaks more to her adaptability than to her curiosity.

Part of the disappointment in the later seasons of Voltron is that a lot of storylines and character arcs either felt unfinished or mishandled. Part of that is because by prompting so much change in the paladins and then introducing a visible marker of that change in the lion swap, but neglecting to actually flesh out those changes in later seasons, huge parts of the characters felt empty. Shiro was forced to take on a task way bigger than he ever wanted to have — did he ever get the time to find himself and his interests again before he was slapped into a new leadership role and married off? Keith finally seemed to find himself and feel comfortable in his skin as the black paladin — why was he sent away before he could enjoy it? And then why did much of the progress he made while he was away come at the detriment of his ability to co-lead with Lance? Lance had so many interesting arcs and relationships with the rest of the paladins and his own inner turmoil — why were these arcs muddled in the name of a forced romance and settling down on a farm? Allura got to move from an impassive leader to a fun young woman with her entire future ahead of her — why was she forced into a relationship she didn’t want and then killed? Hunk’s entire character was so interesting and funny — why was he immortalized as the caricature he was forced to play in the Coalition show that he hated so deeply, and forbidden from reaching his full potential? Pidge had a fascinating dynamic with the paladins in contrast with her own internal struggles — why was her development dropped as soon as she found her brother?

Dreamworks dropped the ball. But I’m happy to take the seeds they planted and care for them myself — to grow them into a diverse and interesting cast of characters that had deep and nuanced relationships with each other and the situations they were in. Also, I don’t know how to end this essay, so end scene.

[seraphcelene]

IWTV 2.7: I Could Not Prevent It

I almost hate to keep circling the drain on what this season of IwtV has done, but it's so choice and so intentional and it makes my little writer's heart sing. I love it because I love narrative. Storytelling in all of its nuanced, complex, diverse ways is a thing that fascinates me to no end. An unreliable narrator is arguably one of my favorite things because I already have an almost immediate distrust of the narrative voice. So, when an author does that shit on purpose? 😍

Oh my Fucking Gods! I have a hard on for that shit because who do you trust, what's the truth, how do we understand the story we are being told? I love the act of identifying loosely patched over edges and pulling at loose threads. There's a lie here, someone is playing all up in my face and I want the answers! And a really good writer who implements an unreliable narrator leaves tells all the fuck over the place. After all ....

"You cannot script a hurricane."

Okay, here we are in episode seven, still circling the drain of who has ownership of the story? Louis is the vampire who is being "interviewed" with the occasional footnote offered by Armand. This is in tension with the book in which Louis's is the only voice. What has changed, to make this a richer story, is how introducing Armand's perspective now turns everything on its head. It's an explicit kind of dig at the way that interviews are curated by both the interviewer and the interviewee. What are you willing to discuss? What's on the record? What's off the record? How much external research and material will be introduced? How does the story survive interpretation? What's the fucking goal here?

I'm thinking a little about the Andrew McCarthy documentary about the Brat Pack and how one New York Magazine article in 1985 turned the lives of a group of up and coming actors sideways. David Blum, who wrote the article, had an agenda. He had a point to prove and the article wasn't especially flattering. Watching the doc it becomes clear that Emilio Estevez had a different idea about what that article was supposed to be about. But such is the nature of the interview. In the end, the story shared, in all of its limited, constructed dance of questions and answers is still subject to editing, the perspective of the interviewer, and interpretation by the reader.

Here, Louis has a point to make. Exactly what that is? Who really knows. He does the first interview as a kind of love letter/suicide note to the world before he walks into the sun. This "re-do" might still be such. It also might be his attempt to understand what happened. He has questions, he knows there's holes and somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows that he can't and doesn't trust Armand. He also could want to, as I think he states in S1E1, provide an accurate accounting of what vampires are like.

Honestly, I'm on the self-discovery train.

I love how when Louis gets angry, and he has been getting angrier and angrier, he snaps hard on people. The way he shushes Daniel, "I am speaking," was delicious. Armand's discomfort was apparent and I had to wonder given this is the season's penultimate episode what we're about to find out about what happened in the past and his part in it. He's been concerned about how this was all going to go and he's only gotten MORE uncomfortable as the series has progressed.

But, and as always, what do we get to really know? Who's story is being remembered?

Louis's true and living history?

A flawed truth that Louis remembers in fragments patched over by imperfect logic? (how memory maybe really works?)

A false truth fed to him by Armand?

How about a messy patchwork of all the fucked up above.

Lestat is back. Out for blood or on the apology tour, not exactly sure. The Brat Prince himself treading the boards of the theater he helped to establish, what a sight. Lestat loves the show, he loves performance. It's definitely one of the characteristics carried over from the book. Lestat is petty and savage and a liar. He makes himself a victim, but why? What is the value of it? The trial is a farce and Lestat feels wronged and wants revenge. He wants to be as important to Louis as Claudia is. He wants to be loved in return because he is a terrible person and he knows it, but also, Lestat de Lioncourt feels incredibly deep. For all of his toxicity, Lestat was written as a character who loves to the detriment of his own best interest. And he loves Louis. I remember them from the books as acknowledging that they are that couple who are meant to be together but never CAN be together because they are too toxic to each other.

"I couldn't force him to love me. I couldn't force him to return my affections … and so … I broke him." TOXIC and PETTY AS FUCK.

Stories told by the heartbroken. What lies do you make up to explain and justify a thing that happened so that you are not culpable?

Lestat in this episode and the next is also prepping us for the shift that must, to some degree, come with Season 3. How do you turn a villain into an anti-hero into a hero? Lestat is the hero of The Vampire Lestat and of The Vampire Chronicles. I think the show runners are starting that redemption arc now. Not the smallest part of which is Lestat as an unknown quantity, uncontrollable if he doesn't want to be.

Daniel's voice is honest and unnervingly direct. He strips the window dressing off of everything, exposing nuance to a critical light that leaves everything sordid and as ugly as reality just is. In that there is, perhaps, the closest we will ever get to the truth.

Arguably, if it weren't for Santiago we might forget that alot of this is bullshit. Angry, jealous, manipulative, Santiago's performance during the trial forces the viewer to confront the reality of a crafted narrative. He knows they're lying and spitting scripted facts skewed for effect. It was brilliant to watch the bounce between his goals and Lestat's constant slide into melancholia. HAHAHA! A hurricane, indeed. That guy was SO. ANNOYED.

Episode 7 continues with the manipulation of the storyline made as clear and explicit as it ever has been. The way the music is used during the trial, Lestat's lies and half-truths, the animation running on the screen. We're being beaten over the head with this blur between performance and reality.

Watching the re-tread of how Claudia became a vampire makes me me feel like I need to go back to watch Season 1. The gaslighting is real! And then Louis' capitulation to the differences in the way he remembers it happened and the way that Lestat says it happens is perfect! Tell it Lestat's way, for the book. Because he DOESN'T REMEMBER. There are, after all, three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth.

Louis' memory has been so tampered with. By time, by Armand's manipulations, by madness, and trauma.

I still maintain that Armand is trash.

I thought the title would be a quote from Louis who in admission of his own powerlessness laments Claudia's death as an unavoidable failure on his part. That it is Armand who has ownership of the line changes the story, as always. I could not prevent it suggests that there was nothing that he could do, but the reality, as has so often been the case with Armand, is that he did not want to. The entire sham trial was preventable had he chosen Louis over the coven to begin with. The unfortunate reality is that he, like Lestat, despised Claudia for Louis' adoration of her. He was jealous and would forever be and the only way that he could have exactly what he wanted was to get rid of her. Doing it this way, he gets to blame the coven and Lestat. Arguably, Lestat for all of his machinations and insecurities, his petulant rage, actually loves and was loved by Louis in a way that Armand, despite Louis's modern protestations, never can or will be.

I'm so in love with the way the story is told that I don't talk too much about Claudia. A BOOK could be written about the silencing of marginalized female voices. Claudia, despite her diaries, has no real voice in this. She is an assemblage of half-remembrances and a yellow dress pinned to the wall. It makes it so much more poignant and electric then that she curses every last person sitting in that theater before she burns. There is no need to hide that or shade it. It was not directed at Louis. Armand's willingness to allow Claudia to burn while not doing the same for Louis is tragic. And again, all of this could have been unnecessary. I've said before that I don't think Armand was ever much of an alpha.

[neonscandal]

Thanks for your posts and metas, @neonscandal .... Before I found your blog, actually I ship tododeku and kiribaku. But thanks to you, I became bakudeku shipper (until now). Your metas are amazing and always based on canon. Sorry, I'm not good with words, but I hope you know how great your blog is (you are definitely one of my favorite tumblr blog). 💐🌷

And WOW these last 10 - 15 chapter, really are the best. Even my mutuals who are anti-bkdk can't deny Bakugou and Midoriya's bond anymore. Also, love Uraraka and Toga's bond....

Do you think it's possible that at the end of BNHA, Bakugou and Midoriya have ambygous relationship (kinda like Tiger and Bunny)....? I know it could be hard to be canon in shounen series.....

P.s Do you think SatoSugu (from JJK) is queerbaiting?

⚠️ Vague spoiler warnings through chapter MHA 410 at best. Covers JJK S2 with a vague mention of a character who pops up later in the manga.

It's funny you say that because I also love a good tododeku or kiribaku situation. Like yea, people have their OTP but... realistically? Characters should be just as messy as people in real life. ✨ They're going to date around before things fit together with that OTP, right? At least that's how I look at it. So I love exploring offshoots.

You are far too kind in these rough times but I appreciate you saying that (and reaching out). The swarm of asks lately have been so funny. I tend to carve out time to address them quicker than some of the other things bouncing around my head (literally, the exact opposite happens with fic updates 🥺) so I'm just happy I'm writing something. If someone else enjoys it then that's the whipped cream and caramel on my sundae.

DUDE. I hadn't read 409 or 410 yet because holiday chaos but I feel like we're beyond allegations at this point haha ALTHOUGH, I didn't see the cliffhanger from 410 coming at all so I wonder what that means for the larger story.. Got any theories?

Regarding endgame... honestly the last two chapters gave me a little anxiety. "This is our tale?" Too good to be true. Especially when we know from chapter one "this is a story of how I became a great hero". Also, I've had some thoughts since 406 about how their connection is being framed up which I haven't had time to write but it feels like a lot of fanservice for Horikoshi (and subsequent editors, etc) to not commit. Additionally, in all the ways this story subverts the typical formula for shonen, it would also feel like a fumbled opportunity to turn everything on its nose with such a wildly popular series. So I'm holding out hope but conservatively preparing for one of them to just... not make it even if we get a confession *shudders in Supernatural flashbacks*.

I hope this makes sense as I struggled to recommend stories where this wasn't the case when asked about BL. In my opinion, good representation in mainstream stories (gender identity, orientation, race, religion, disability, etc.) is when, whatever makes a character different isn't their whole identity. Specifically in the context of more traditional stories (not centered on BL for instance), they should be involved if not just as integral to the plot as any other character wherein their diversity isn't sticking out like a sore thumb. But even that characterization requires nuance which is what makes it so hard to articulate? Maybe it's simpler to say that their character arc shouldn't just be based around identity. As a short answer to your question, I don't think that SatoSugu is queerbaiting. I think they are authentically and intrinsically coded to one another in subtext and out loud straight from Akutami but that, sometimes, relationships don't work out or love is unrequited. They may not have had the same feelings despite their inherent complement to one another and that's okay.

As above, characters should be just as messy as real people and that's what makes what didn't happen between them all the more tragic because it's heartbreaking in how relatable it is (not the cult leading and murder though). Seems like a convenient answer from a delulu shipper unless you take into consideration how Kirara Hoshi's identity is given the same level of subtlety. They aren't defined by their identity nor are the characters jarred by some particularly grandiose reveal nor are they perturbed by the nature of their connection to Hikari. I'm by no means an expert but I think that these characters are executed well in the sense that they have a complexity that doesn't hinge on what would otherwise make them different. They aren't "othered", it's just a fact of who they are and the story continues. It's a facet of who they are without cheaply being all they are. With Gege Akutami's own pronouns not expressly confirmed, perhaps that informs the care around those with differing identities.

I haven't seen Tiger & Bunny yet but now I know what to check out next!

[cowgurrrl]

The Actress

Pairing: rockstar!joel miller x actress!reader

Author’s note: hehe

Summary: Red carpet interviews with Joel

Warnings: talk of an intimate scene, idiots in love, Joel Miller being a wife guy, PDA

You're walking the red carpet for the premiere of your and Ryan's movie Hyde when you recognize one of your favorite interviewers. She's done a few interviews with you in the past, and she always asks unhinged or extremely thought-provoking questions; that's why she's one of your favorites. You gradually approach her, snapping pictures with Ryan and Joel along the way, and hug her.

"Oh, my God, hi! How are you?" You ask, and Rosie smiles.

"I'm good. How are you? You look stunning."

"I was literally just about to tell you the same thing. This blue dress is everything." You gesture to her beautiful baby blue dress, and she does a little pose for the camera, much to your excitement.

"Thank you! Alright, I've got some questions for you. Are you ready?" She asks.

"Always."

"Hyde has garnered a lot of online discourse about parenthood and the choice of having and raising a baby or seeking other options. When you read the script, what were your initial thoughts?"

"I thought it was an amazing script, and I knew it was an important story to tell, so I'm glad it's getting people to talk! Amber and Nick's relationship and decisions are so nuanced and complex, and I think it would be a disservice to the story if we didn't talk about it. But yeah, I remember being excited and a little nervous, but I knew I wanted to do it." You say.

"That's amazing! Okay, what was the hardest scene to film and why?" She asks, and you sigh as you bite your thumbnail.

"Probably the hospital scene. I won't give any spoilers, but that was a really, really long and emotionally taxing day. And Ryan couldn't even be on set that day because he'd start crying or I'd see him, and I'd just want him to be next to me, but that's not what the scene called for, so they literally closed set and told him he couldn't be there which was really hard for both of us. He's like my big brother, so it was difficult to do that without him, but afterward, he gave me the biggest hug, which was so nice."

"Speaking of Ryan, one of the parts of the movie that everybody is talking about is the cabin scene," she says, and you laugh. "What was it like to film that with him?"

"It was really strange! We've been friends for so long, so when we read that part of the script, we were definitely taken aback by it. We both spoke with his wife, Carolina, who's also an actor, before production about it, and at this point, I hadn't met Joel, so I was single, but she was so welcoming and knew it was just work. We also had an amazing intimacy coordinator, Tanya Reid, who guided us through every step and made sure we were taken care of. It really was a good experience, and I felt safe with him, and he felt safe with me, so that's really the only thing I can ask for."

"That's so sweet!" Rosie says, and you nod.

"Yeah, I'm really lucky to have gotten such a positive experience with someone I love so much."

"Okay, I have one more question for you."

"Hit me with it."

"Who's the better kisser? Ryan or Joel?" She asks, and your jaw drops.

"This is a horrible question!" You laugh.

"You don't have to answer it if you don't want to."

"No, I'm a goddamn professional," you purse your lips together as you think. "I'm going to say Joel because I haven't had to kiss Joel on a sound stage in front of a crew of about thirty people yet."

"Yet?" She asks, and you shrug as you glance back at where Joel is waiting for you.

"Well, he likes to come to set with me, and sometimes we'll need extras, and then he gets roped in, so I just have a feeling that it'll happen one day."

"So, you're telling me Joel Miller is doing non-union work on projects with you?"

"He actually said something about joining the union the other day, and I was like, "You've been in, like, three things. Please calm down." But yeah, I'm gonna go with Joel. Not that either of them are bad kissers! It's just weird to kiss Ryan at work and then go out to dinner with him and his wife, y'know? I think I'll stick with my own guy." You say as Joel walks over, hearing his name.

"Talkin' bout me?" He asks, kissing your cheek. He introduces himself to Rosie with a strong handshake and a gorgeous smile, that impeccable southern charm making an appearance.

"We were talking about how you're working on your EGOT status with all your non-union work." You say, and he laughs.

"Well, together, we've got, like, three-fourths of an EGOT."

"That's true."

"Joel, what do you think about all this?" Rosie asks, gesturing around at the event. "I mean, your girlfriend is pretty cool."

"Everythin' she does is pretty cool. I'm very lucky to have her in my life and to watch her thrive as an artist. I mean, there's nothin' better than watchin' your partner be happy, y'know?" He says, and you smile. “She’s also smokin’ hot. I mean, just look at her.”

“Joel!” You slap his chest.

“Do a spin! Show off the look!” He encourages you, grabbing your hand and raising it over your head. You oblige and spin under his arm. Joel wolf whistles in response, making you laugh, and fall into him. You two are the picture of domestic bliss: his arm wrapped around your waist and your hand on his chest, big smiles on both your faces.

“Well, you two are the internet’s favorite couple so we hope you guys have an amazing night. Congratulations on Hyde hitting theaters.” Rosie says, and you hug her.

“Thank you, sweetheart! Have a good night!” You say as you grab Joel’s hand. He uses his other one to shake Rosie’s hand one more time before walking the rest of the carpet with your guy.

[olasketches]

Hello....Can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from JJK? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Sorry if you've answered this question before....Thanks....

Hi there! and sure I never actually got to talk about why I love my favs so thank you for giving me an opportunity!

Sukuna

so fun fact! I actually started watching jjk because of gojo to see what's the hype all about but then sukuna showed up aaaaannd... I knew right then and there that this is MY guy. there was just something about him that drew me in. he intrigues me, makes my head spin. sukuna is evil (a devil incarnate some may say) but he's also more than that. he's not your typical villain. there's actually lots of contradictories and nuances to his character. he’s bloodthirsty but not hotheaded. he's apathetic but reads others like a book. he actually pays attention to his opponents, observers them, calculates their every move, spots their weaknesses while also encourages them and at times even praises them. also sukuna's unyielding sense of self is truly a thing of beauty. he does as he pleases and doesn't proclaim his strength to define himself. he doesn't need to prove anything nor does he seek to be understood. he's chosen to prioritise the self at the expanse of all connections, which allowed him to transcend humanity and became what we know as the king of curses. he's basically the epitome of all that is inherently wrong with humanity and jujutsu society as whole, to the point you can't even think of him as human, but rather, inhuman. or as yuuji would call him a curse "these guys are and will always be curses"... but here’s the thing, unlike mahito, sukuna was born human. and as much as he appears to be this self-serving, cunning and evil god-like being (well he is... definitely.. cunning, self-serving and evil those are all correct!! but god-like? I talked about it here) he still has "humanity". it's corrupted and twisted but well.. it's still THERE and that's actually what makes him so sinister in the end (but also so sooo appealing to me).

Yuuji

he's just THE BEST. I love this dude. one would think he's all sunshine and rainbows, but he's waayyy more than that. for one yuuji is a mess. a boy with a warped sense of self-worth and terrible identity issues who on top of that has a big disdain for his existence as a whole and yet still clings to life. he still manages to keep on going, regardless of what awaits him on the path he has paved... his determination is really something else. another thing I love about yuuji's character is that he’s not at all like your typical good natured, hero most protagonists are framed as. he doesn’t mind resorting to violence when the situation “calls” for it. he is actually someone who also relies on power and strength above everything else. yuuji doesn't really question his actions or the things jujutsu society tells him to do but that's because yuuji is a teenager. a confused teenager who just doesn't want to think too hard about the world he lives in so long as he has something to do. but then again... he's a teenager, which means he's still learning, he's still growing and despite his self hatred and the dwindling feeling of his self worth coupled with the burden he has to carry, yuuji keeps on living. and I think that's one of the most interesting and admirable things about his character. yuuji is completely selfless in his desires which has only made him suffer more as the story progressed, but the most selfish he has ever been is when he chose to live... and he still does btw. he is still choosing to keep living despite all the suffering and deaths it cost him. that's what makes this boy so special to me.

Megumi

now I'll admit, I thought megumi... was kindA bOring at first (little did I know he's been growing on me since day one). but then I GOT it. I had my 'oh' moment. I FINALLY understood!! megumi is kinda... a freak. boy goes unhinged when pushed too far. and I absolutely love those moments when he stops second guessing himself and goes completely off the rails. also there's just something about his character that makes me want to sit down and see what fucked up situation he is going to get himself into next and then watch him figure his way out of it lol anyway. megumi, just like yuuji, has a really low self esteem. he can be self sacrificial, but not because he has some 'hero complex'. megumi just doesn't value his own life the same way he values his loved ones' (tsumiki and yuuji). his major goal in life was to make sure he's sister is safe and well... we all know how that turned out. megumi is an implicitly suicidal character that also happened to have… quite a shitty life, which is why I want him him live. I want him to survive this and more importantly I want him to finally fight for HIMSELF and chose his own life in the end (honestly this person summed it up so much better than I could have <- this is essentially everything what I love about megumi's character).

as for my top 5 fav moments… damn it’s all gonna be sukuna isn't it ToT

1. sukuna’s possession of megumi (best plot twist EVER even tho we really should've seen coming)

2. sukuna and yuuji’s confrotation (their dynamic is actually one of my favourite things about jjk)

3. sukuna rampage in shibuya and then his conversation with jogo

4. yuuji confrontation with jumpei where yuuji ended up reaching out to him (I think that’s the moment that really made me fall in love with his character)

5. megumi during culling game (basically just unhinged and stressed baby)

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Hello!! This is kind of a stupid question but do you understand who the Moonshadow assassins kill and why? At first I assumed it was just human rulers/generals from all kingdoms but when Viren was talking about how they were a threat in season 2 the other rulers didn’t seem to think it was as big of an emergency and I was a little confused. I hope you have a great day!!

I actually love questions like this! There's some nuance in the answer, and also some uncertainty, but I'll share my take for ya:

The Moonshadow assassins don't seem to pick their own targets, they accept assignments from the Dragon Throne. The full nature of that relationship hasn't been explained in any detail, so it's a tricky, complicated area of lore for the moment.

Basically, we don't have any information on how the Dragon Throne chooses the targets it passes on to the Moonshadow assassins for taking, aside from the one that happened just before the show's plot began, with Zubeia sending Runaan and his team to kill Harrow and Ezran. All we know is that these targets are supposed to be so threatening to Xadia that the world would be better off if they were no longer in it.

It's not impossible to imagine Avizandum telling his assassins to take out someone who didn't actually deserve it. It's relatively easy actually, knowing how he liked to stomp on humans, and how long he lived. It's probably happened. The only question is: how often? (angst)

I would guess - because again, we don't really know this for sure yet - that Avizandum generally chose actual threats, or people who could easily become threats in a war. But when you're a long-lived dragon, maybe you see different patterns in the mortal lives and cultures of humans. And Runaan and all the assassins before him wouldn't live long enough to recognize those patterns themselves, so they probably had to accept their targets out of either trust or duty. (more angst)

Some of them would definitely be military type targets: generals; shining young hero types with a chip on their shoulder; stealthy human assassins; dark mages if they dared risk it; and etc.

But a dragon might see strange harmless patterns beginning to form and decide to nip them in the bud before they led to anything truly threatening: a craftsman who just had a design breakthrough with a prototype ballista; a baker who just invented hardtack that could keep an army on the move for weeks; an armorer who just made a much safer design; a clever miner who found a rare and valuable source of iron.

People like that aren't dangerous on their own. But the knowledge they might share among the humans during a long drawn-out war with Xadia could be devastating in a decade or five. A dragon who already doesn't like humans would probably have no trouble sending his best assassin to snipe unsuspecting ordinary people like that.

We're still not sure if assassins must take an assignment, or if it's just dishonorable or something not to take it. But Runaan's a pretty regimented guy, and he's not fond of humans either. Between his trust issues and his protective instincts, I don't think he'd look too hard at his assignments these days even if he had a choice - he'd believe he was doing the right thing for his people, and then he'd stop thinking and go shoot someone.

I think sometimes Runaan definitely was doing the right thing by killing someone. But it's impossible to say which missions were and which weren't the right thing. Life is way too complicated for clear-cut answers like that.

Okay, onward!

The other part of this answer is about the Pentarchy itself. I think their hesitance to commit right away, and the reason Aanya got so much time to smack Viren with her sass, happened partly because Viren lives in a border realm like she does, and the other three rulers have a nice safe buffer between them and the brunt of the war efforts.

Basically, Del Bar, Neolandia, and Evenere don't have any skin in the border game.

They don't have big standing armies, and the only threats they deal with are small incursions - either assassins from other human realms or occasionally Moonshadow assassins.

Which is the topic at hand! But when Viren tries to convince Harrow to do the switching spell in S1, he claims that Moonshadow elves are an unstoppable force. Almost a force of nature, kind of vibe. If they come for you, you're just gonna die about it. Harrow even agrees with him! It's common knowledge how deadly the Moonshadow assassins are. And that's what happened despite all of Viren's plans - he still lost his king because Moonshadow assassins are scary good at their job.

So it's plausible that the other rulers didn't see any point in committing resources to an unsolvable issue - if Moonshadow assassins were coming for them, then they'd die. Why risk anyone else? Anyone in the assassins' way would die too. (Which they did in Katolis)

Another option is that Viren has been wrong before, and the other royals did commit resources to deal with the threat he claimed was coming, only to have time and money and forces wasted. If Viren had brought them costly mistakes, they could've been hedging their bets this time around.

There's a funnier possibility though: maybe they just didn't like Viren. People in power sometimes say polite things to an underling or a petitioner, and then have no intention of ever following through with it. They might've all been blowing smoke here, telling Viren "oh yeah sure if we're all in, let's totally do war, bro" and absolutely never meaning it even a little bit because they simply did not like the messenger.

Which is mean. But: royals.

tldr:

there's a few things affecting the Pentarchy scene all at once. We don't know all the factors involved yet, and the Pentarchy probably doesn't either. But at the end of the day the Pentarchy chose to hesitate, and that left Viren on his own.